The present invention relates to an editing system and an editing method adapted to generate edited video data by image-processing video data of plural channels reproduced from a random-accessible recording medium.
Recently, in the field of post production applied to editing of video data obtained from a video camera, there is known a nonlinear editing system which employs a disk as a recording medium to record material data. A variety of editing processes are executed in this nonlinear editing system, inclusive of a video editing process for generating a desired video program by linking a plurality of materials, a composition process for compositing a plurality of materials by the use of key signal, and a special effect process for giving some special effect to a material. Generally, a video editing process is executed by an editor, a composition process by a video switcher, and a special effect process by a special effector, respectively.
Due to the latest improvements achieved in the random accessibility of disk recording media, it has become possible to access video data of plural channels simultaneously. For this reason, it is highly demanded now to realize an improved editing system which is capable of processing video data of plural channels in real time. For example, regarding the current demands existent in the editing industry to produce commercials for television broadcast or in the editing industry to produce motion picture programs, it is desired that different kinds of editing processes be executed in combination while several tens to several hundreds of materials are edited. It is further demanded to generate high-degree and complicated edited data by repeating different kinds of editing processes so many times.
In order to realize such editing processes, there is proposed an enhanced editing system employing a time line which indicates the contents of the editing processes by a layer structure consisting of multiple layers.
This editing system enables a user to visually grasp with ease the contents of the editing processes by displaying the time line on a monitor and further facilitates the editing itself by means of a pointing device such as a mouse.
However, in such known editing system, it has been impossible by the time line to control the data flow, although possible to control the data values. More specifically, since the content to be processed per layer is previously determined, an executable process per layer is mere control to such predetermined value, and editing with a combination of selected processes per layer is impossible to consequently deteriorate the degree of freedom in editing.
Further, it has been customary heretofore that the entire processes are executed sequentially from the lowermost layer to the uppermost one or vice versa, so that the contents of the processes are limited by the layer structure. In addition, there has been existent another problem that, as the editing process becomes complicated, it is difficult for the user to grasp the contents of the processes with ease.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an editing system and an editing method which enable a user to visually grasp the editing process with ease for execution of multilayer editing.
And another object of the present invention is to provide a multilayer editing system which is capable of performing fast composition, special effect and editing processes of plural-channel video data supplied as multilayer data.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an editing system for editing a plurality of clips recorded on a random-accessible recording medium. The editing system includes a clip processing means having a plurality of clip processing layers to execute a predetermined process for the clips; and a hierarchy decision means having a plurality of objects corresponding to the clip processing layers respectively, and serving to decide the hierarchy of each clip processing layer by one hierarchical structure which is formed by connecting the objects mutually; wherein the clip processing means performs time management of each clip processing layer, and any processed clip obtained from one clip processing layer is further processed by the other clip processing layer which is hierarchically above one clip processing layer, and the processed clip obtained from the hierarchically uppermost clip processing layer is outputted as a fat clip.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an editing method of generating an edited fat clip by editing a plurality of clips used as edit units. The editing method includes the steps of executing a predetermined process for the clips by a plurality of clip processing layers; connecting a plurality of objects provided correspondingly to the clip processing layers, and deciding the hierarchy of each clip processing layer by one hierarchical structure formed through such connections of the objects; performing time management of each clip processing layer; and processing the clip, which has already been processed by one clip processing layer, by the other clip processing layer which is hierarchically above one clip processing layer, and outputting, as a fat clip, the processed clip obtained from the hierarchically uppermost clip processing layer.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an editing system for generating an edited fat clip by editing a plurality of clips used as edit units. The editing system includes a clip processing means having a plurality of clip processing layers to execute a predetermined process for the clips; a hierarchy decision means having a plurality of objects corresponding to the clip processing layers respectively, and serving to decide the hierarchy of each clip processing layer by one hierarchical structure which is formed by connecting the objects mutually; and an indication means for indicating a desired object; wherein any processed clip obtained from one clip processing layer in the clip processing means is further processed by the other clip processing layer which is hierarchically above one clip processing layer, and the processed content obtained from the clip processing layer corresponding to the indicated object is outputted as an interim fat.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an editing method of generating an edited fat clip by editing a plurality of clips used as edit units. The editing method includes the steps of executing a predetermined process for the clips by a plurality of clip processing layers; connecting a plurality of objects provided correspondingly to the clip processing layers, and deciding the hierarchy of each clip processing layer by one hierarchical structure formed through such connections of the objects; and processing the clip, which has already been processed by one clip processing layer, by the other clip processing layer which is hierarchically above one clip processing layer, and outputting, as an interim fat, the processed content obtained from the clip processing layer corresponding to the indicated object.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an editing system for generating an edited fat clip by editing a plurality of clips used as edit units. The editing system includes a clip processing means having a plurality of clip processing layers to execute, with time management, a predetermined process for the subject clips to be edited; a hierarchy decision means having a plurality of objects corresponding to the clip processing layers respectively, and serving to decide the hierarchy of each clip processing layer by one hierarchical structure which is formed by connecting the objects mutually; and an indication means for indicating a desired object or clip processing layer; wherein any processed clip obtained from one clip processing layer in the clip processing means is further processed by the other clip processing layer which is hierarchically above one clip processing layer, and either the processed content obtained from the clip processing layer corresponding to the object indicated by the indication means, or the processed content obtained from the clip processing layer indicated by the indication means, is outputted as a fat clip.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an editing method of generating an edited fat clip by editing a plurality of clips used as edit units. The editing method includes the steps of executing, with time management, a predetermined process for the subject clips to be edited by a plurality of clip processing layers; connecting a plurality of objects corresponding to the clip processing layers respectively, and deciding the hierarchy of each clip processing layer by one hierarchical structure which is formed through such connections among the objects; processing the clip, which has already been processed by one clip processing layer, by the other clip processing layer which is hierarchically above one clip processing layer; and outputting, as a fat clip, either the processed content obtained from the clip processing layer corresponding to the object indicated by an indication means, or the processed content obtained from the clip processing layer indicated by the indication means.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an editing system for editing plural-channel video data reproduced from a random-accessible recording medium. The editing system includes a video processing means for processing the plural-channel video data; a display means for displaying a plurality of video clips on multilayers of a time line correspondingly to the plural-channel video data, and also displaying a plurality of objects, which represent the linked state of said plurality of video clips, in such a manner that the objects correspond respectively to the video clips; and a control means for controlling the video processing means in accordance with the linked state represented by the plurality of objects.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an editing system for editing plural-channel video data reproduced from a random-accessible recording medium. The editing system includes a video processing means for processing the plural-channel video data; a display means for displaying a plurality of video clips on multilayers of a time line correspondingly to the plural-channel video data, and also displaying a plurality of objects, which represent the linked state of the plurality of video clips, in such a manner that the objects correspond respectively to the video clips; and a control means for controlling the timing of reproduction from the random-accessible recording medium in conformity with the positions of the video clips on the time line, and also controlling the video processing means in accordance with the linked state represented by the plurality of objects.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an editing system for editing plural-channel video data reproduced from a random-accessible recording medium. The editing system includes a video processing means for processing the plural-channel video data; a display means for displaying a plurality of video clips on multilayers of a time line correspondingly to the plural-channel video data, and also displaying a plurality of objects, which represent the linked state of the plurality of video clips, in such a manner that the objects correspond respectively to the video clips; and a means for editing plural-channel source video data reproduced from the random-accessible recording medium in accordance with the linked state represented by the plurality of objects, and then recording the edited video data on the recording medium; wherein the display means displays icons representative of the edited video data correspondingly to the plurality of objects.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an editing system for editing a plurality of video clips generated from source video data. The editing system includes a reproduction means for reproducing the source video data recorded on a random-accessible recording medium; a video processing means for processing the source video data; and an editing means having a graphical user interface to perform an editing operation, and serving to control the reproduction means and the video processing means in accordance with the manipulating operation in the graphical user interface; wherein the graphical user interface includes a time line of a multilayer structure for compositing a plurality of video clips generated from the source video data and assigning the video clips to the layers, and also includes an object area for displaying a plurality of objects which represent the linked state of the plurality of video clips; and the objects are icons to indicate the process of composition to be executed by the use of the video clips assigned to the layers.
The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description which will be given with reference to the illustrative accompanying drawings.